Facts

Gerry's Grill is a popular Asian restaurant within the Filipino community specializing in Filipino cuisine and is owned by brothers Raymond Mangune and Mario Mangune. Carlos Cordova and Robert Sumang brought a class action and pursed a Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) action against Prime Grill Corporation dba Gerry's Grill, and the Mangunes. The class consisted of current and former non-exempt employees during the class period, including part time restaurant workers.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs generally contended that defendants failed to pay proper hourly and overtime wages to employees; failed to provide accurate wage statements to employees; failed to provide appropriate meal and rest periods to employees; failed to pay all wages at the time of separation to former employees; failed to reimburse employees for lawful business expenses; engaged in unlawful competition and unlawful business practices; violated PAGA; and failed to comply with written request to inspect or for copy of records. Specifically, plaintiffs contended that defendants' lack of uniform policies and practices forced plaintiffs to either skip or take late or short meal and rest breaks. Plaintiffs argued that meal waivers, which all employees signed, were unenforceable, not voluntarily signed and omitted mandatory language for a valid waiver. Plaintiffs asserted that they were not paid for all hours worked since defendants had the payroll practice of rounding employee time, and that, in any event, defendants did not count the extra time when employees clocked in early before or after the end of their scheduled work shift, which resulted in underpayment of wages to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs alleged that the sampling of plaintiffs' timesheets provided by defendants showed that time entries were rounded such that those who failed to clock in and out before or after the official shift start/end time lost that time when working weekend shifts. Plaintiff Cordova contended that he and a few other employees used their personal vehicle to run business errands for defendants to pick up supplies at various stores and make deliveries approximately 2-3 times each week. Plaintiff Cordova claimed that he and other employees were never reimbursed for mileage for using their personal cars.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all contentions, and asserted that all employees had been properly compensated in accordance with California Law. Defendants contended that plaintiffs voluntarily elected to waive their first and second meal periods by signing a meal waiver which were signed by all employees. Defendants further argued that it satisfied its meal break obligation by relieving its employees of all duty, relinquishing control over their activities and permitting them a reasonable opportunity to take an uninterrupted 30-minute break, and did not impede or discourage them from doing so. Defendants contended that there was no rounding policy and that time was adjusted based on the employees request when they made mistakes in punching in or out on the timekeeping system and plaintiffs were properly compensated for all time actually worked. Defendants also argued that, at most, the alleged unpaid wages were de minimis and, therefore, non-compensable. Defendants asserted that only a few individuals ran errands for the business and were reimbursed for mileage expenses.

Settlement Discussions

The parties participated in settlement discussions, including a full day of mediation before Michelle Reinglass, Esq. As a result of their ongoing settlement discussions and the mediation, the parties decided to settle plaintiffs' claims.

Result

The case settled for $192,500.